


Thank You

by HaydenFullwright



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-02-28 20:17:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13279101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaydenFullwright/pseuds/HaydenFullwright
Summary: Adrien tells Marinette the things he always should've.





	Thank You

The light in her eyes died as she shakily expelled her last breath. In those moments... the world stopped. Everything ceased to exist.

Except for her lifeless form cradled in his lap...

And his own shattered heart.

A strong wind threatened to throw them both off the roof he had precariously perched on, and for one moment, he considered letting it happen. Dying, just as she had. But he couldn't abandon Paris. That had been her last request. Protect Paris no matter what. He promised her that he'd do it. Even after her death, he'd hold true to his word.

Staring at her limp form in his arms, the world seemed to instantly slow down. A tender breeze caused her pigtails to flutter softly. Her eyes were empty, and he couldn't bare staring into those bluebell orbs anymore. Carefully, he slid her eyelids shut... and felt a sob wrench itself from his throat.

Ladybug was dead.

She was really gone. The saviour of Paris, half of their amazing duo had been lost today. And Chat felt hopeless.

At that moment, there was a flash of light that exploded from her, and then her suit was gone, and a red kwami floated beside Chat, tears welling in its eyes. Chat hesitated, then looked at Ladybug's face, turning away from the kwami.

"Marinette?" they asked in unison. Chat's in utter shock, the kwami's in desperation.

A sob wrenched from Chat's throat, and he dropped his transformation, Plagg appearing at the red kwami's side. "Tikki, I'm-" Plagg's foice cut out as he wrapped comforting arms around the sobbing red kwami.

"She was so young," Tikki managed between sobs.

Adrien stared at the bluenette, feeling his heart breaking all over again. Marinette was... Ladybug? The stuttering girl that sat behind him in class was actually the bold, heroic Ladybug? It was hard to comprehend, and it shattered his heart further that she was someone he knew instead of an utter stranger. It was as if two people he was close to died in one day... and he couldn't protect either of them.

And then another thought entered Adrien's head. How would he tell everybody? How could he explain to the whole of Paris that their hero was gone? And then stare Marinette's family in the eye... and her friends... and tell them... that their precious... daughter and friend was just... gone.

He choked on sobs, hot tears falling to Marinette's cheeks.

"Marinette, please... you can't leave me like this," Adrien whispered.

He pulled her closer, burying his head in her soft hair. It was slightly damp, and had a slight scent of sweat... but it was comforting. A bit of life that hadn't died yet. Something he could cling to as her skin turned cold.

"Come back," he whispered. "Come back, please. Marinette, I need you," he shuddered with an uncontrollable sob.

When she continued to lay limply, the emotions became to overwhelming, and he threw his head back, screaming into the spring night.

"Kid," Plagg said, landing on Adrien's knee, close to Marinette's head. Adrien stared down at him, breathing shakily. "She's not..." Plagg gulped, "she's gone. I know you how you feel but..." Plagg stared helplessly at Tikki. He wasn't good at this sort of thing.

Tikki turned to Adrien with such a heartbroken expression, that once again, Adrien's heart shattered. "I understand how heartbreaking this is for you... but there's still an akuma loose out there, and..." she sighed, squeezing her eyes shut, "we'll need a Ladybug to purify it." After a few moments, she cracked her eyes open, flew down to Marinette, rested a red limb on her cheek. "You need- you need to say your goodbyes, and take her earrings so we can- so we can get a new L-Ladybug."

Chat's face paled. He didn't want a new Ladybug. Marinette would always be Ladybug to him. But Tikki was right, and he  _had_ promised Ladybug shortly before she died that he would protect Paris. After Tikki took a few moments to whisper a goodbye in Marinette's ear, she pulled back, and Adrien pulled the limp form closer, kissing his own tears from her cheeks.

"I-I want-" his words caught in his throat, and Plagg offered a sad look. "I want to say thank you..." he stared at her face, brushed a loose strand of hair from her forehead. "For everything. For being the best f-friend I could ever ask for... for inspiring me to be b-better than I ever thought I c-could..." a sob escaped his throat. "For being someone I could always love," he kissed her nose, "will  _always_ love. You taught me to see life through a new perspective, and to treasure the things I saw as insignificant. You taught me I'm important, when I felt unloved and neglected. You're the one who helped me to love others as well." He chuckled, empty as it may be. "And if there's a God out there, I'm sure every beautiful moment I had with you was a blessing from him." He turned his eyes upward to the sky. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I won't ever have the chance to ask you on a date, or the opportunity to kiss you. I won't be able to propose to you, or see you walk down that aisle toward me, agreeing to grow old with me. I'll never be able to see our children playing together, or see our grandchildren," he gazed back down at her. "I may never watch a starry night with you, or hold you close while watching a scary movie," he sighed, "I won't even get to run across the rooftops of Paris with you again, or sit in front of you in class..." he leaned down and pressed a kiss to each of her eyelids. "But I want you to know... I'm thankful for each and every moment we had together.

The awkward moments, the moments where I made you blush, or the moments where I tried to catch your eye when you were Ladybug. The smiles, the jesting... I'll cherish each and every moment."

He glanced at Tikki, and she smiled, tears pouring down her face.

Turning back to Marinette, he smiled, gulping down a sob. "I wish you were still here. I wish I could spend the rest of my life with you..." he trailed off for a few moments, then pressed a final kiss to her face, feeling her cool lips beneath his own warm lips. "I love you, Bugaboo."

**Author's Note:**

> This is shorter than I'd intended...  
> Oh well. It felt out of place continuing further.  
> I was gonna write something happy, but this came out instead.


End file.
